How to Deal with a Bad Lab Partner
A bad lab partner – chances are you’ve had one or will get one at some point in your college career especially if you’re an engineering student. Having to work with someone like this is extremely frustrating and can have a huge impact on your grades. First, let’s cover the different types of lab partners.
Lab partners can take on many different forms. There are the amazing ones that are great communicators, easy to work with, and dedicated to doing a good job in a timely manner. And then there are the others. The ones that make you dread any kind of lab work or anything that deals with them. Let’s focus on this type of partner.
Not all lab partners are bad in the same way. There are different reasons that make a person a bad lab partner. Here are the types I’ve dealt with personally or helped my students deal with and how to (hopefully) fix the issue:
The Distracted Partner
The distracted student. This partner is one that doesn’t focus on the task at hand. He or she is typically talking to other students or, even worse, constantly on their phone. It gets real annoying when you’re doing all the work in the lab and your partner isn’t really helping.
This type of student isn’t necessarily a slacker, they’re just be too focused on themselves to realize that they’re causing issues for you. What you need to do is let them know that you need their help. Give them a task to complete. When they finish that one, give them another. They key is to give them smaller tasks during the lab. This will keep them occupied.
If you don’t do this and you just start working on the lab on your own, they’ll think you don’t need them there or don’t care if they aren’t helping. You definitely don’t want that! So redirect their attention to the task at hand and usually you’ll be able to get the help you need.
The Non-Communicating Partner
The passive aggressive non-communicator. This is one of the worst types of lab partner to have. This student will usually take over the entire lab assignment. Why do they do this? Because they think they know best of course! And if they know best, that means they don’t need your help or input. Many of the times they assume no one can do a better job than them so they try their best to work alone.
With this kind of partner, your contributions will likely get ignored or criticized. This person will also get offended if you suggest anything outside of their ideas. Having to tiptoe around is not ideal to the learning process so you must address this issue early on.
For this situation to work you must be firm and get a little aggressive. I know that can be awkward for many but it’s really necessary. You have to get over the awkwardness and just do it! Once you have your assignment, before anything else is done, you need to initiate a discussion on how the group will proceed, who will do what and what the timeline will be. If you do this, it puts you in more control of the situation.
Usually that tactic works, but if it they start to try and take over, let them know that isn’t going to work. Tell them you want to contribute and that you don’t like being left out. Once you kinda get in their face about it, they’ll usually back down.
The Slacking Partner
I saved the worst for last. The no-work slacker. This student is the absolute worst. With the other types, you can at least expect some (or maybe too much) work to get done. With this one, you get nothing. You might as well just not even have this person as a lab partner.
As an instructor, I can say that this type of student causes the most issues. First, they don’t care about their grades. They’re ok with just getting by as long as someone else does the work. Second, their partners never know how much work they’ll do or if they’ll do anything at all. If they do complete a task, it won’t be done well so you’ll have to redo it. Lastly, if you set up future meetings, they may or may not show up. This adds stress to everyone working with this person. Definitely not what you need with everything you have going on!
How to Deal with the Slacker
If you’re working on a short lab experiment in a physics class for example, you want to get as much done as possible before leaving the lab. Many students will do the experiment in the lab and then meet up later to write the report. You can’t rely on your partner, so you don’t have this option. You need to get everything done while you’re still together. Stay after class and write the lab right then if you can.
Of course, they may claim they’re too busy to do that. In this case, break the assignment up and clearly state who is doing what and then set a deadline. Have them send their section to you so that you can put everything together. This puts you in charge of the final submission. The last thing you want is for them to be responsible for finishing everything up and submitting the report on time.
If they never send their portion, you’ll have the chance to get it done. No one wants to do this but at least your grade won’t suffer.
If you’re stuck working with this person week after week and you never get anything out of them, you’ll want to let your instructor know what’s going on.
When to Go to the Instructor
As an instructor, I can say that is gets old having to deal with team dynamics and interpersonal issues. We just want students to work together and get the assignments done on time. With that in mind, don’t go to the professor on the first day you start having problems with your partner.
Give it some time and try to fix the situation yourself. If you don’t do that, the instructor is going to tell you to work it out on your own anyways. The reason why is that even in industry when you get a job you’ll be dealing with difficult coworkers. Good interpersonal and communication skills will be needed throughout your career so your professor will view this as a chance to improve on those skills.
If you’ve done your best to try and fix the issue, then take it to the prof. The more written proof that you have that your teammate is slacking off the better you’ll be. Otherwise it’ll turn into a he said she said situation. This means get things in writing. Create written timelines, send emails and texts to confirm meetings, etc. If you can show that your partner never responds and never participates, it’s more likely that your instructor will step in to help.
Bad Partners Are a Part of Life
Unfortunately, bad lab partners are just part of college life. In a weird way though they prepare you for the future. Once you get a job, you’ll more than likely end up working with the same personality types.
The key is to not get too frustrated and let it ruin your experience. Just remember that you’ll be dealing with this person for a short period of time so it’s not the end of the world. If you do find yourself getting annoyed, talk to your instructor and see what they say. I guarantee you they’ve probably dealt with the situation before and can provide you with some tips that’ll work for your situation. They might even take it upon themselves to talk to the slacker and see if they can bring about change.
